The Three Traits of Every Great Chef

Posted on Jul 19, 2018 10:11am PDT

Being both a Chef and a Director of Admissions for
Liaison College of Culinary Arts gives me a unique perspective into the industry and the teaching and training
of those seeking to enter it. I myself was a graduate of Liaison and landed
my first job the day after I graduated. I am well aware of what is out
there and what it takes to succeed. The success of a chef does not start
with their first favourable review or the landing of a position at a reputable
restaurant; not even with the first ‘official’ job in the
industry. It starts before cooking school even begins.

It never ceases to amaze me who has always wanted to cook: high school,
college and university graduates, people already established in their
current careers but looking to change and retirees not ready to retire,
my eldest student was 72! All were different yet all the same for I can
tell you they all share 3 identifiable traits. It is these same traits
that any chef wants to see in their kitchen: Passion, Professionalism,
and Work Ethic.

Passion is our driving force and is defined as an uncontrollable urge that
come hell or high water, the promise of reward or certain failure: this
must happen. In cooking, everything can happen, and good cooks need to
be able to dig deep to get the job done; failure is not an option. When
I meet with people this can come across pretty easily in what they say
and how they say it, where they see themselves, their future plans. By
asking the right questions I also am able to determine that they are aware
of it what a ‘day in the life’ of a cook means. This early
on in their career they truthfully don’t and I can spend a good
deal of time making them aware, it’s not a pretty picture I am very
blunt and to the point. I have lost people because of this, but I rather
this happen in my office than later in class. Yet those with passion;
they already figured this, they get it and can’t wait to get started.

Professionalism: It’s hard to determine this before it even happens,
but it does make itself evident. Going to Liaison College is professional
training and not just teaching. Cooking is a hands-on endeavor and must
be taught hands-on. What happens in our kitchen happens in the kitchen
of other chefs. There is no cooking in a bubble here. We echo what the
industry is doing. And with professional training comes the understanding
that you are cooking for money, a wage to make a living. This is not cooking
for the grandparents; this is knowledge, skills and understanding for
one cook to be able to cook for 100 people. The understanding that every
slice, dice and chop will cost or make you money. And time, is not on
your side in the kitchen. Understandably a student is not going to be
fast at first and only through experience does speed and confidence begin
to develop. Hands-on training therefore needs to be consistent and consecutive
in its execution; it needs to be true to what is expected out there in
the world, but be a safe and nurturing learning experience for the student.
Likewise, a chef instructor needs to be available to their students to
make this happen. The average class size for us is 10 to 12.

Work Ethic: This can easily be bunched in with professionalism but it has
distinctions. You could be the best chef in the world, but if you’re
always late or don’t show up; I ask ‘What is the point’?
I need students to be here and to be on time and likewise present when
they’re here; meaning not on the phone but here and involved. Our
programs are accelerated and done in a fraction of the time of other culinary
diploma programs yet deliver more hands-on training. I meet everyone.
I want students who get that and want that. They should have a well-developed
sense of urgency, the need to get things done. Liaison graduates enjoy
a 90% job placement rate after graduation. Part of that are the references
that our chefs can give to other chefs on behalf of the graduate. Those
references are developed by the work ethic a student’s exhibits
at Liaison. I do not measure our success by the number of diplomas we
hand out, but by the phone calls from employers who want “three
more clones of the last graduate that we sent”.

It is said that, “when the student is ready the teacher will appear”.
When people contact me about information about programs, fees, start dates…I
always suggest that they
come in to meet me. With all that we do, there is no way a brochure, website,
email or even a phone call can accomplish what a single visit can. The
only thing that I promise anyone is that by the time I am done with them,
they will know everything they need to know about our school and how it
works and particular they will know if this is in fact the right school
for them and it either is or it isn’t.